Live Out the Kingship of Christ: The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Matthew 25:31-46)

One of my favorite movies is the 1981 film Excalibur. In my opinion, it is simply hands down the best rendering of the legend of King Arthur. The sword in the stone, the knights of the round table, the quest for the holy grail, and other elements of the legend are presented in a particularly enchanting way.

The movie sparked an interest for me, not just in the legend and the lore, but also in the medieval history it came from. I began to have an appreciation the politics of that time period as well as the challenges and temptations most kings likely faced during their reign.

In the history of the Church, the role of a king was to maintain the peace of the realm, oversee the administration of justice, and to uphold the rule of law in the land. The king would provide for the safety and other life essentials of the people in his kingdom, in exchange for their services.

Some Medieval royals, such as Henry II of Bavaria and Louis IX of France, provide good examples of how a king was to provide for his people in charity. Both men are canonized Saints with feast days on the Roman calendar. We celebrate their attention on charity towards the people in their respective kingdoms.

Ultimately, these two holy rulers were simply imitating Christ the King in all things. They allowed the kingship of Christ to inform, shape, animate, and sustain how they approaced their daily responsibilities. They were a dim reflection of Jesus Christ, our true King of kings and our true Lord of lords.

Extrapolating on the prophesy of Ezekiel, it is Jesus that ultimately takes care of our needs: tending to us, feeding us His Body and Blood, giving us rest in the Holy Spirit (particularly on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation), shepherding us rightly through His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

On this, The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, we should recall that we too are baptized into this kingship of Christ, just like Henry II and Louis IX. We should renew our commitment to carry out the kingship of Christ in every aspect of our being. Afterall, we cannot truly love Jesus without loving our neighbor. We cannot truly love Jesus without loving the stranger in our midst.

Our Gospel today gives us a blueprint for how to more fully participate in the Kingship of Christ. It doesn't mean we have to invite total strangers into our home to eat Sunday dinner with us, as Louis IX was known to do. It doesn’t mean we have to have enormous amounts of wealth to donate to the relief of the poor, as Henry II did. But we can endeavor to do whatever is within our means.

More to the point, we can discern how God is calling us to meet this challenge to live out the Kingship of Christ in the particular circumstances of our ordinary world. Maybe God is calling us to help serve a meal to the homeless and hungry at the Saints Peter and Paul Community Services or through the Saint Patrick Center Casserole program. Maybe God is calling us to provide personal assistance to those in need through the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Maybe God is calling us to visit the homebound or those in nursing homes. These are just a few examples of some of the outreach ministries we offer at the parish that enable us to live out the Kingship of Christ through our time, talent, and treasure.

Our acts of love are ultimately fulfilled in God's love for us. What we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we can do in the Kingship of Christ and for the kingdom that was prepared for us from the foundation of the world. Be Christ the King to those in our midst. Now, let's turn our full attention to the consummation of the Kingdom of God and the love He offers to us in the Eucharist. May the regrets of times we failed to love the least of our brothers and sisters, be transformed into a holy fervor to serve them this day forward...that we may truly go in peace, glorifying the Lord by our lives.

Daunting! - Reflection for Evening Prayer - Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time (Ephesians 3:20-21)

As Christians, we are called to live out the beatitudes; in particular, to perform the corporal and spiritual works of mercy for the least of our neighbors, as well as the stranger among us.  We are called to a life of service to the Church and to the World.  Let's not kid around, that is a daunting thought.  It is one thing live out the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church.  Yet, the fullness of the Christian life includes what happens between Mass.  How we respond to the call: "Go forth, glorifying the Lord by your lives."

As Christians, we called to take on the challenges within the Church head-on.  We are called to increase our awareness of those around us, meeting them where they are, and walking with them in faith.  We are called to help them conquer fear with love, discouragement with hope, and indifference with faith.   We are called to be conduits of the Holy Spirit to shape the culture and heal division.  In a Christian Anthropology class, Deacon James Keating would routinely ask us:  Are you ready for this responsibility?  Are you sure this is what you want?

Daunting!

Be not afraid!  Our reading today reminds us that God will do amazing things through us…things that are well beyond our imagination.  Just look at the examples we have from the past: Saint Augustine, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Catherine of Siena, Therese of Lisieux, and so many others.  These men and women didn't do great things because of their natural intelligence and abilities.  These men and women did great things because they completely surrendered their lives and their wills to God.  Their mission was the mission of God.  Their power was the power of God.  Everything they did was for the glory of God.

The same is true for us.  If we are feeling overwhelmed by certain aspects of the Christian life or by the idea of what we are called to do, you are not alone.  I think most of us have been there at various points of the earthly pilgrimage of life.  What I have learned about myself is that those times I am feeling overwhelmed or inadequate are usually the times I am trying to serve others on my own as opposed to allowing Jesus to serve through me.

God will do great things through us, far greater things than we can possibly imagine, if we can be humble enough to step aside and allow Jesus to serve His people through us.